


Promises, Promises

by pseudofaux



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F, Fan Apprentice - Freeform, Oral Sex, a relationship of two people who just want to spoil the hell out of each other, domesticccccccc, happy little asra mention, in this house we love respect admire and revere portia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 08:04:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17638973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pseudofaux/pseuds/pseudofaux
Summary: Words are as binding as truth, and truth is as tethering as love. Nadia wishes Vereene were less responsible. Vereene responsibly exacts a promise to get the chance to fulfill some of her own wishes.(Established relationship Nadia/Apprentice.)





	Promises, Promises

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very grateful to [saizoswifey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saizoswifey/works) for looking this over and giving me recommendations and feedback.
> 
> This is the first f/f story I've written and let see the light of day. Nadia is such a compelling character for me, seriously one of my favorite love interests EVER, and I've been writing little scenes for a while, not wanting to commit to writing my apprentice in them... but wtf! It's 2019! YOLO!
> 
> I drew from some experience, some fantasy.
> 
> You can learn more about Vereene in [this tumblr post](http://pseudofaux.tumblr.com/post/182073368211/vereene-arcana-apprentice) but basics for the purpose of this story: Vereene is a rule-minder who embroiders or otherwise decorates everything she can. Her lost time has made her cautious and the artistry is a form of control.

Waking settled on Nadia’s consciousness like fine angora, doing nothing so much as it tempted her to return to sleep. The warmth of the afternoon and the comfort of her pillow coaxed her back to dreams before her eyes even opened.

But Vereene’s lap shifted below her head, and even with her eyes still closed, Nadia could tell her magician was leaning over her. _Nah-jah_ , the other woman prompted. Her voice was soft and low, and it offered a choice: honeyed comfort in wakefulness against the oblivion of sleep.

Only a careful listener would notice the letters strung together like seed pearls and the way the _/d/_ caught breath between the stronger syllables. Nadia noticed, and loved it. But she did not want to leave the comfort of their little pleasure house in the garden, the domed rotunda that was the site of so many happy memories. She resolved to hide her wakefulness, even from her partner. If she showed her hand, then Vereene— part beloved, part majordomo— would insist they return to the palace. This retreat had been too delightful to give up just yet.

“Nadia…”

She committed herself to stillness, but then there was a smooth slip of touch at the corner of her lips and a surprisingly indulgent chuckle. Lazy-- promising. Enough that Nadia chose to revise her strategy.

She opened her eyes as she turned to brush her mouth against the fingertips of her magician.

The adoring smile that greeted her was beyond the beauty of dreams, and now that she’d caught a glimpse it was far more tempting than sleep. She pulled her little lover down for a kiss that became more. She kept Vereene there for hours, and was kept in turn. They traded touches and sips of spiced tea. There was no talk of returning to the palace.

It was a perfect afternoon.

**|-|-|**

A not so perfect morning: toast charred at the edges, no mint jelly, Portia ill, people squawking at her in Portia’s absence. The first moment she could, Nadia dismissed everyone for half an hour and immediately fled to a small, sunny room she hoped would provide her with a few minutes of peace and the chance to restore herself.

The room was… too peaceful. She received no more than a smile and a murmured “Hello, my love,” when she sighed herself into a chair. Her jaw relaxed, but she did not like being _ignored_ for fabric, and she liked being jealous even less.

“What are you working on?” Nadia asked, irritated with herself for being cross in this place.

“A blanket for Asra’s baby,” Vereene said, eyes still on her stitches. She was adding wooden beads to her thread every moment or so, finding them with her fingers in a bowl glazed in the Prakran style. Nadia recognized it as a gift from Nasmira, and the recognition darkened her mood before she took a deep breath and checked herself.

She looked away, shamed by her selfishness. After a moment, she said “I took it for a tapestry,” and hoped apology was evident in her voice. She tried to enjoy a book she found in her chair, wedged between the cushion and the frame.

But she could not make the words cooperate, and when Vereene’s queer yellow eyes looked up from stitching, Nadia’s were there to meet them.

“It’s a little like a tapestry,” Vereene offered with a smile that said there was nothing to forgive. “Would you like to see?”

Nadia’s curiosity had been piqued days ago, she’d simply had too much pride to ask. She crossed the room and trailed her hands on Vereene’s shoulders as she moved behind her chair. She saw no reason not the kiss the cheek closest to her, and the sigh of laughter it earned her made Nadia feel worlds better.

Still seated, Vereene held up her work for them to view.

A serpent was coiled in one corner, and its dreams were in pale threads that shimmered across the rest of the panel: tree limbs, the sun, the ocean.

“There are spells for protection and good health in some of it,” Vereene said. “They’re small, like suggestions, but it seemed nice to add them to something for a child.”

It was lovely, and Nadia said so, punctuating the declaration with another kiss.

“Why are you tense?” her lover asked, turning her face to Nadia’s. Vereene was wearing a brooch in her hair above her temple, three hammered brass circles that caught the light coming in through the room’s many windows. The ornament was the first trinket Nadia had given her personally, a shiny token from the red market meant to suggest a connection to her crown. It felt like ages ago, before their real connection had become apparent. When Nadia touched one of the metal moons, a sigh escaped her.

As she slid a fingertip along the first circle, Nadia confessed, “This day has been… extremely trying, without Portia.”

She cupped Vereene’s cheek with her other hand and let herself swim in the comfortable gold of her eyes.

“Can I help?” Vereene asked. Her lips made the worried, kissable frown Nadia forever had trouble ignoring.

She managed to resist kissing it away, and instead leaned down to put their foreheads together. Hands slid over hers and rested with a light touch that steadied Nadia until their breathing found rhythm together. Always comforting, her magician.

“I would give anything for you to come with me to court for the rest of the morning,” she murmured. She did not expect Vereene to leave her project. They had talked through the virtue of truth-telling around the time she made the gift of the little pin, though, and it was their practice to be honest with their desires.

“Then I will,” the other woman said as she nuzzled her nose up for a kiss.

Nadia pressed her forehead more firmly against Vereene’s. “It was an idle wish,” she clarified.

“You are always granting my idle wishes. Let me come with you.”

And that was that. Nadia slid her fingers into woven green hair, and kissed her fiercely.

**|-|-|**

A long day, but ended. Nadia was at last able to luxuriate in her bedding, beyond grateful to be done with the trials of Portialessness. If she could have her way, Portia would have only the best health and the troublesome members of court would all be laid low by a cold instead. All of them at once.

“You made it,” her bedmate said as she squeezed Nadia’s hand. The gentle interruption reminded her the day was over and this was a time to _relax_. Her eyes followed swirls of paint and silk down from her ceiling, to the walls of her room, to the woman stretched out beside her.

Vereene in pyjamas, laying on her side. Such a pleasant sight.

“Come here?” Nadia asked. But Vereene shook her head as she sat up.

“You promised, earlier,” she drawled. Her fingers placed the lightest pressure to each of Nadia’s thighs, more warmth than touch. Through the fine linen of her nightgown, the sensation dragged down and up, fluttered to nothingness, and began again.

Nadia’s hips rolled toward the touch, unashamed. She loved Vereene, and they had been busy for several days, and… and Vereene was not usually so bold. This was very charming. “I promised…?” she drawled right back.

“Whatever I wanted.” Fingers pressed just a fraction more.

Ah. She had promised that.

“Whatever that may be,” Nadia promised again, each word pulled by her grin. She was always happy to indulge her partner and hoped Vereene was in the mood to ask for something daring.

She saw the other woman take a breath, watching the delicate movements of her own fingers. Their path had traveled higher. Nadia’s usual preference was slow, extended lovemaking, but the contact made her wish they were tangled already.

“Then I want you to stay right where you are, and let me love you,” Vereene said, the touch of pride in what she said nearly as surprising as the words themselves.

The shock of being outfoxed into passivity made Nadia’s eyes narrow, and she shifted her weight to take in the face of the one who had put her in this position.

“You spoil me all the time,” Vereene continued before she could speak, “You please me-- you make me senseless. I want to see to _your_ pleasure tonight.”

Nadia was not unhappy, but she was… thrown. Vereene, gone feisty and making plans?

“First, at any rate,” Vereene added evenly.

Nadia smirked and raised her chin. Fine. More than fine. “Do as you will,” she said, appreciating the purr in her own voice. “I keep my promises.”

A hand slid inside her leg without a trace of hesitation, and cupped her warmly.

“I keep mine, too, Nadia,” whispered Vereene. Feisty indeed!

One of her fingers curled against Nadia’s skin, separated only by linen, and Nadia rolled her hips again and leveled a look of challenge on Vereene’s smile. It did not waver. When a knuckle brushed against her clit, Nadia’s eyes narrowed. More touches reduced her vision to thin slits of the bedroom until she closed her eyes and let her head fall back with a soft groan.

“I know you do,” she conceded. She could not begrudge when she was fairly matched.

She felt Vereene move between her legs, and looked down to see a grin. It was the rich, sultry kind she only got to witness in privacy.

“I love you,” Vereene mouthed. Dark lashes fluttered above the smirk as she brought her head down. Nadia, delighted by the boldness, assured her the feeling was mutual.

She _felt_ Vereene’s hum, and then the ridge of the woman’s nose against the fabric shrouding her. Delicate nibbles and licks were pressed inside of each of her thighs through the skirt. The slight drag of the linen, grown damp between tongue and skin, added friction to the feeling so obvious in every touch. It was glorious. She relaxed into the bedding again, honest with her appreciation in breath and movement.

And just as she surrendered into it fully, it stopped.

The warmth of a long hum registered directly against her sex, and then there was nothing. Unamused, Nadia looked down again to see what was happening. She could not remember Vereene being much of a tease before.

The other woman pushed herself up onto her knees, and pulled the top of her pyjamas above her breasts. The movement was slow, and if it was an attempt at seduction for Nadia’s sake it was unnecessary.

Vereene blew her a kiss before she lifted the shirt off and tossed it away. The brown of her areolae, the most natural and perfect color in Nadia’s world, was left in the air without a hint of modesty, swaying beautifully as the magician straddled her legs.

Nadia was greatly amused. Something about the sight of her lover bare chested… there were precious few things that would improve this. It satisfied her to know she would almost certainly be indulged if she asked for any of them.

“Take your hair down for me?” she whispered. She tried to make it more of a request than a challenge.

Vereene smiled, inclined her head, and reached for the long pin at the base of her neck. That was tossed aside, too. She straightened like a dancer and curved herself in profile for Nadia to watch as she unwound her hair until it had fallen around her shoulders. The trinket Nadia had noticed in the library flashed as it lost its place. Nadia moved to right it, but Vereene shook her head and pulled herself back out of reach.

“Leave it,” she said. “Please. It’s my favorite.”

Nadia arched a brow. That humble thing? Important as a first gift, perhaps, but she knew it was by no means the most precious bauble in her magpie’s collection.

“And,” Vereene added, swirling her fingers around Nadia’s stomach, “You’ll need to something to focus on when I am between your legs.”

There was that boldness again, and the thrill of it made Nadia want to flip them more than ever. But she remembered her promises and only smiled and nodded. “As you wish, lovely one.”

Slowly, Vereene said, “ _You_ are lovely.” Her hand stilled and then splayed out above Nadia’s hip, mirrored by the other. “You worked so hard today,” she continued, and her voice lulled like a story.

Nadia let herself melt again. She listened for more as thumbs gently dragged comfort and excitement from either side of her navel. Vereene’s massages were divine, and Nadia enjoyed the feast for the senses that was the tarotist, hair and breasts free in the privacy of their bedroom, skin scented from their bath, nipples going stiff without a touch. They were both givers, but Vereene was selfless-- Nadia realized she had probably wanted to do this for some time.

Later, Nadia would tease her that fortune favored the brave, and kiss away her blush.

Now, palms moved up Nadia’s body until thumbs pressed circles into the underside of her breasts. Vereene leaned down and brushed her nose against Nadia’s. “I admired you in court,” she whispered. Nadia tried to return the sentiment, but there was a press of a kiss, ardent, silencing.

Something about that she could not wholly abide. The world around their faces was darkened by green hair, and Nadia had her hands in it before she realized she had moved. She sucked the magician’s lower lip into her mouth and held it with her teeth. “I am what I am because of you,” she enunciated carefully around it.

 _Trophies_ , Nadia thought as she took in Vereene’s trembles, and the way her eyes lost just a bit of their focus. It felt to Nadia like the dance of this seduction could go on endlessly, a chase of give and take and peaking tensions. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth in nominal deference.

“I know what you’re doing,” Vereene scolded onto her mouth. But it was a laugh of a scold, and it made Nadia laugh, too.

“...I like it.”

When they parted from their kisses, Vereene insisted “You’ve become what you are because of your efforts, Nadia.”

There was time for her to appreciate the slow, intimate way her name was said as a hand slipped between their bodies, but when Vereene kissed her shoulder, there were fires set in her skin to match the burning in her heart, and she could think on it no more. She could only try to follow the points of contact-- fingers that stroked her slit, lips that murmured love above her collarbone, and the heated sex of her lover as it moved over one of her thighs.

“You are _kind_ ,” Vereene said, before taking one of Nadia’s nipples in her mouth. She laved it through the dress and swirled her tongue around it, the linen heightening the feeling at the sensitive point just as it had between her legs. There were murmurs of patience and praise that Nadia did not need, but did not mind.

“And you’re generous,” Vereene whispered over the nipple before drawing at it. Nadia’s attention was pulled back to her mouth. Vereene’s smile at the squelch between Nadia’s legs tried to be wicked but to Nadia it was mostly adorable; the face of a puppy getting away with some mischief.

The thought fled as Vereene moved to her other breast and kept their eye contact as the pink of her tongue rubbed the nipple. “Just,” she continued, as she moved her finger in a circle pressed _just_ inside. The curve of motion grazed Nadia’s clit and pulled a moan from her throat. Vereene’s huff of laughter made Nadia’s blood go thin and hot, racing through her body as though against itself. And then the nipple was between teeth, and Nadia’s hands found their place in Vereene’s hair again.

One at a time, Vereene freed her breasts from the nightgown and played with her the same way without the fabric between them. Nadia’s body wanted more, but she enjoyed the feather softness of Vereene’s loose hair, wavy beneath her fingers. It looked at least as burnished as her little pin, even in the dim light of the bedroom. That was thanks to the scented oils Nadia loved to gift to her.

Her magician was like honey-- sweet and lasting. Unspoilable. So she would spoil Vereene as much as the other woman could stand.

Nadia thought on that as she allowed Vereene to spoil _her_ , and let her hands drift through green hair. When Vereene sat up, Nadia let her fingers slide through the tresses until the last moment, a scent sweet as kulfi and alluring as amber lingering behind. She chased it as her hands came down and slid along her face-- she breathed deeply to capture the last of the perfume-- to rest on the bedding.

Vereene, on her knees straddling Nadia’s legs, watched her. Nadia felt it when the grin tugged up one side of her mouth.

The pyjamas Vereene wore were a short pair, embroidered with fat little owls at the cuffs that went around her calves. Nadia liked Vereene in everything, but these were special, one of the first signs of her acceptance of palace life-- life with Nadia.

She worked her fingers into the fabric bunched at the knees. She wanted Vereene naked, at least.

But hands were immediately at her wrists, pulling them away.

“No. All you, tonight,” Vereene insisted, and squeezed Nadia’s wrists as she raised the hands to her mouth. “You promised,” she said archly before she kissed the fingertips.

The countess rolled her eyes at the reminder and the tiny nip to one finger, but she smiled. “I did promise,” she agreed. “But if you want to make me happy...”

With the easy peace of confidence, Vereene said, “I can make you happier.” She lowered their hands to Nadia’s skirt. “Let’s start with no more of this,” she added as she curled Nadia’s fingers into the fabric that had kept them apart. She shifted to grant Nadia room to sit up and remove it.

Nadia stared at her as she tossed the dress aside. She wanted their skin to be touching, craved the tenderness of breast against breast and the helpless panting of kisses.

But she had promised. If she told Vereene what would give her the most pleasure was being pressed together, nipples and curves, as they rocked back and forth… she would be obliged, wouldn’t she?

She could have that almost whenever she wanted, she reminded herself. What Nadia could not always have was a Vereene who wanted to lead them into pleasure. She settled herself back onto the bedding and beckoned with one finger. Some things were simply habit.

There was a beautiful flash of Joy on Vereene’s face before she pushed herself toward Nadia for another kiss. As the warmth of Vereene’s breasts slid over hers and hands slipped behind her shoulders, Nadia felt that joy mirrored as from within her own soul.

“You’re-- _mmm_ \-- leading anyway.”

Nadia pressed a quick line of kisses to her cheek. “Go on, then,” she mused, not sorry at all. “I promised.”

“Don’t forget it,” the magician said. Her body slid lower again.

Vereene’s fingertips trailed from Nadia’s shoulders to her stomach as she pressed light-- too light, in revenge, Nadia supposed-- kisses around her navel. When those hands found her hips, she was already pushing herself up into the contact.

Hair green as an inkspill mapped across her belly, then her thighs and the sheets. Vereene bent one of Nadia’s knees and pressed a kiss to the thigh. The muscle tensed appreciatively. Vereene kissed it again.

Nadia knew that was some of the softest skin on her body. There were few things better in the world than soft kisses to soft skin.

Vereene did one of them.

She moved her fingertip in circles that slipped along the inner lips of Nadia’s sex. “This feels wonderful,” she murmured. Nadia agreed. And when two fingers slid inside and swirled around as they were removed, she agreed even more.

They rocked themselves on the bed, allowing tension to build to something beautiful. Vereene abandoned Nadia’s thigh in favor of her clit and kept up a slow rhythm of kisses, predictable and pleasurable. It allowed Nadia some of the authority she was accustomed to, to be able to work herself _against_ the movement and control her response. Mostly she closed her eyes or allowed them to look over the star-swirled scene of their bedroom ceiling. She could not keep herself from looking down to see the shiny metal circles, glinting as they caught the glow of the lamps. The sight made her clench in a needy way she did not like, so she looked away until some strange desire compelled her to look again.

The steadiness of Vereene's attention was as merciless as a metronome even as Nadia's body approached desperation-- or perhaps approached grace. Vereene changed what she was doing but did not change the pace of her hand or her mouth, even when Nadia moaned and pressed her head just a little closer. She felt the slip of Vereene’s smile against her, smooth wet teeth on smooth wet flesh, and Nadia ground herself against the sensation as her legs began to shake.

She sucked in a breath and held it, needing to keep the moment more than her sense. Memories of the taste of elderflower cordial and the scent of cardamom and the feel of magic swirled around her limbs and hovered just beyond her fullest understanding, drawing the fine hairs on her body toward the heavens. Vereene’s hands squeezed her hips as she sucked on Nadia’s clit, _entirely_ too mildly and then stronger, stronger, moaning for her... And Nadia’s lungs staggered to catch up as the memories pulsed real in her breath, stunning and clear as a crescent in the sky.

As she recovered, Vereene kissed her just below her clit, fingers waving slowly inside her like breeze-blessed grasses. Nadia felt sleepy and peaceful, the clarity of bliss becoming a more muffled thing.

She pushed Vereene to rest on her thigh, and a warm cheek laid there as fingers tickled at her slit, slick and deeply pleased. The hum of pleasure against her leg said it all. Oh, how very fond she was of the magician.

Nadia murmured the thought as she drifted toward sleep. The movement of her fingers became sluggish against Vereene’s scalp, until it lost its dance with the other woman’s gentling motions.

The day was done. It hadn’t been so bad, really.

“I love you, Nadia,” Vereene said, and scooted up the bed to snuggle. She put her leg over Nadia’s and kissed her cheek, and whispered adoration Nadia swore she would return.

After some sleep.


End file.
